Greg Hinz On Politics

Duckworth, Durbin would ban guns for foreign travelers

In a nifty little political move, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Tammy Duckworth today introduced legislation designed to force political conservatives to choose between cracking down on terrorism and more gun control.

Specifically, the northwest suburban congresswoman proposed legislation to close a loophole in current law that allows visiting nationals from Europe and some other areas—but not visitors from most of the world—to buy or possess firearms in the U.S. Put another way, as long as a visitor comes from one of the 38 countries with which the U.S has visa exchange agreements, they can pack heat, however much they might be under surveillance.

"For all the focus being placed on refugee widows and children desperately seeking safety and respite from terrorism, we should be at least as concerned about issues . . . that terrorists have already exploited," Duckworth said in a statement, noting that 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid of "shoe-bomber" fame entered the country using the visa waiver program.

"While I support the visa waiver program, there's no reason to give unfettered access to deadly weapons to foreign nationals," Duckworth added. "If Congress fails to act, it will have failed in its duty to protect our people and our national security."

A similar bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who said the firearms ban used to apply to all foreign nationals in the U.S. on such waivers but was lifted after a 2011 legal opinion by the Department of Justice that those coming from the 38 countries were technically not traveling on a "nonimmigrant visa."

Said Durbin: "It's time to close this loophole that terrorists could very easily exploit to get guns and use them to kill in this country."

Makes sense to me. But don't hold your breath waiting for passage.

Meanwhile, another candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, Andrea Zopp, called on Congress to defeat a bill that changes how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulates car loans. She says it would make it harder to protect consumers against discriminatory lending practices.

"Borrowers of color are nearly twice as likely to have higher interest rates than white borrowers with similar credit scores," Zopp said in a statement. But "HR 1737 undermines the authority of the CFPB to protect minority consumers seeking auto loans."

The bill passed the House 332-96, with Duckworth and some Democrats joining Republicans to vote "yes," and now goes to the Senate.